An automotive vehicle powered fully or partially by an electric motor is referred to herein as an “electric vehicle” (e.g., a fully electric vehicle (EV), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), etc.).
An electric vehicle includes an inverter for converting direct current (DC) voltage supplied by a high-voltage (HV) battery of the vehicle to an alternating current (AC) voltage for powering the motor. The inverter includes switching modules, such as integrated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules, and a DC link capacitor having film capacitors. In converting a DC voltage input to an AC voltage output, the film capacitors of the DC link capacitor generate heat as a result of the switching operations of the IGBT power modules. The generated heat should be dissipated so that the inverter may continue to operate efficiently. The generated heat may be dissipated using a coldplate provided as part of the inverter.
Due to the heat generated as a result particularly of the operation of the DC link capacitor, a need exists for additional heat dissipation beyond that which may be provided by standard coldplates currently in use with inverters of electric vehicles.